13 dinner and a movie ideas for a kickass night in

Dinner pairing: Continental Deli  
Mention timeless rom-com When Harry Met Sally in a game of word association, and “deli” is bound to come up straight away. We may not have a deli quite New York City’s Katz’s here in Sydney, but what we do have is the legendary Continental Deli, which is currently offering a line-up of cracking sambos, cured meats, cheeses and tinned fish for takeaway and delivery from both the original Newtown and CBD outposts. One sip of those mighty good canned Martinis will have you moaning as loudly as Meg Ryan and make your neighbours wish they had what you’re having. Order here.

Dinner pairing: DIY ram-don
Last year, Parasite stormed the box office and became the very first non-English language film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. Meanwhile, on Google, searches for ‘ram-don’ – the Korean ramen-udon hybrid whipped up during an especially tense moment in the genre-bending masterpiece – surged by more than 400 per cent. Like a number of Sydney chefs, Mr Wong’s Dan Hong is offering cooking lessons on Instagram, and he’s added lobster to his twist on the Korean staple, traditionally known as jjapaguri. Try your hand at re-creating it in your own kitchen, and take your time – the Park family isn’t coming home any time soon.

Dinner pairing: Crumpets by Merna 
In one of many memorable scenes in Phantom Thread, eccentric fashion designer Reynolds Woodcock sits down to brekky in the English countryside and orders himself a Welsh rarebit with a poached egg, bacon, scones, butter, cream, jam (not strawberry), lapsang souchong tea…and some sausages. Why not follow in his footsteps, have some of the best crumpets in town delivered to your door and lean in to the sacred dining institution that is breakfast-for-dinner? It’s hard to think of a more fitting way to honour Daniel Day-Lewis’s final big-screen performance in this delightfully quirky PT Anderson period piece. Just don't mention the omelette. Order here.

Dinner pairing: Mary’s
Even more than two decades later, Quentin Tarantino’s second feature remains a masterclass in cool, originality and unforgettable quotes. If you love the taste of a good burger as much as hitman Jules Winnfield (played to perfection by Samuel L Jackson), you should probably look no further than what’s widely considered to be the city’s best: the almighty Mary’s burger. Be sure to add some fried chicken, mash and gravy to your order, and have a tasty beverage on hand to wash it all down so that it really hits the spot. Order here.

Dinner pairing: Saint Peter
For Bruce, the loveable Great White in Pixar’s endlessly re-watchable 2003 classic, fish are friends, not food. For Josh Niland, the Harbour City’s king of sustainable seafood, they’re both. The chef-owner of Saint Peter in Paddington launched ‘Mr Niland at Home’ in mid-March, and his daily menus have been a runaway hit. You’ll have a much easier time putting finishing touches on the likes of a pink ling pie or trout-bone ramen than Marlin and Dory do finding 42 Wallaby Way, but there’s no questioning the payoff will be equally rewarding. Order here.

Dinner pairing: Fred’s
If it were up to us, we’d make like Steve Martin and isolate in Meryl Streep’s dreamy home in this hilarious Nancy Meyers gem. We’d spend long days lounging, reading and writing, and in the evening we’d make our way down to her beautiful kitchen to cook up a veg-focused feast not unlike the one that arrives in a giant box from Merivale’s first-rate farm-to-table eatery, Fred’s – think baked eggplant and capsicum phyllo pies, whole roasted cauliflower, jewelled rice and salted-caramel chocolate mousse. And yes, of course you should opt for the wine pairing. Order here.

Dinner pairing: Bella Brutta
The glory of eating pizza in the privacy of your own home is that you can stack one slice on top of another, fold it in half and have at it with zero shame, exactly like John Travolta does in Saturday Night Fever. If there’s one pizza joint in town that makes us want to do just that, it’s our 2019 Time Out Food Award winner for Best New Restaurant: Bella Brutta. The other joy of eating pizza in the privacy of your own home? You can sing along and boogie down to the Bee Gees at the same time, like nobody’s watching. Order here.

Dinner Pairing: Buffalo Dining Club
Some things in life, like Elio and Oliver’s fleeting romance in this beautifully rendered adaptation of André Aciman’s novel, are too good to be true. Others, like stirring cacio e pepe pasta through your very own wheel of cheese, are not. Yes indeed, Buffalo Dining Club’s signature dish is now available to cook at home, along with the option to purchase a 1.5kg wheel of pecorino so you can finish it the way they do at the pocket-sized Darlinghurst mozzarella bar. Now that is what we call amore. (And don’t forget the peaches for dessert.) Order here.

Dinner pairing: DIY steaks from Rockpool Bar and Grill
There’s a lot to be said for saving money when the going gets tough, but we can all agree that it’s OK to live beyond your means every now and again. So, in the spirit of Jordan Belfort, the protagonist of Martin Scorcese’s unforgettably debaucherous three-hour biopic, live large and get your hands on premium steaks from some of the top producers in the country, typically reserved for Rockpool Bar and Grill. Neil Perry himself is offering invaluable advice on his Instagram if you need to brush up on your skills, but whatever you do, just remember to lay off the quaaludes. Order here.

Dinner pairing: Lankan Filling Station
Much like Hans Zimmer’s organ-heavy score and Christopher Nolan’s mind-melting storyline in this transcendent sci-fi epic, O Tama Carey’s layered and explosively flavourful cooking at Lankan Filling Station picks you up and takes you to another galaxy. Our 2019 Restaurant of the Year has re-opened Thursday through Sunday, both for takeaway meals and retail sales, which means you can get cosy on the couch with a cashew curry while you watch, or buy a housemade spice mix, put something in the slow-cooker, press play and have it ready in time to discuss what the hell happens at the end. Order here.

Dinner pairing: Hartsyard
Lots of ideas, many fundamentally Japanese, all executed with precision and intricate detail. These are words you can use to describe anything in the Studio Ghibli canon, but they apply just as much to what’s on the plate at the recently rebooted Hartsyard, where fixtures like miso eggplant compete for attention with braised mushrooms in XO sauce, a Wagyu rump cap and a dynamite smoked pork jowl. Work up a serious appetite, order enough for a bathhouse full of ghosts and get lost in director Hayao Miyazaki’s dazzling magnum opus, which only seems to get better each time you revisit it. Order here.

Dinner pairing: Sixpenny
The perfect match for one of the most universally adored movies of all time? Dinner from one of the city’s most respected restaurants, of course. Chef-owner Dan Puskas and his team are now packing up three-course heat-and-eat dinners for two for $90, which is a bargain when you consider the degustation at the Stanmore fine diner costs nearly twice that. The menu changes every week, but you can expect rosemary and olive focaccia, moussaka and tiramisù – feel-good dishes that, like Andy and Red’s enduring friendship, stand the test of time. Order here.

Dinner pairing: Monopole
The Bentley Group’s restaurant empire is a lot like the James Bond franchise – classy and adventurous all at once, with just the right amount of edge. But if there’s one venue that embodies the spirit of 007 himself more than the others, it has to be Monopole: the nimble neighbourhood wine-bar-cum-restaurant that always has the answers to whatever you throw at it. And if there’s one flick that encapsulates the entire Ian Fleming oeuvre, it’s Skyfall. Get stuck in to a pork terrine, smoked chook and a platter of cheese while you savour every moment, from Adele’s soaring theme to that climactic finale. Order here.